A district level meeting on paddy procurement for 2013-14 was held on December 8 under the chairmanship of District Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil.
The Government has targeted to procure 38,000 metric ton (MT) of paddy from Mayurbhanj district and the first phase of procurement has already begun, said CSO Ranjan Seth. Seth stated that paddy would be procured under the direct supervision of the District Administration in 85 centres with the presence of Farmers’ Co-operative Society, lAMPs, TDCC, Markfed and Pani Panchayat.
Tokens would be given to the farmers from December 15 onwards. The current procurement rate of paddy per quintal has been fixed at `1,310 and `1, 345 depending on quality, he said. Further, he informed that the farmers have to show all the relevant papers at the procurement centres like farmer’s identification card, land pass book and Kisan Credit Card, etc. The meeting stressed online payment to farmers on the same day and supervision by senior officials and farmers’ representatives.
Besides, it was decided that farmers would be trained on quality of paddy. Further, the Collector instructed that necessary materials like polythene, shed and other instruments be provided to the procurement centres for proper storage of the paddy and timely disposal of the paddy by the millers from the centres. Udala MlA Shreenath Soren, besides Sub Collectors of Udala and Karanjia and other officials attended.